Dear CAR Member,
By now you should have received a request from C.A.R. to act on a Call for Action asking you to contact your member of Congress to oppose a proposal to tax mortgages to pay for highways. While the U.S. Senate has already passed the bill, the House has not passed its version of the legislation. I’m urging you to contact your representative and ask him or her to oppose the mortgage tax buried in H.R. 22, the Senate version of the Highway Bill. This tax will cost the average California home buyer more than $8,000 over the life of their mortgage. However, the tax has nothing to do with covering the costs and risks of a home buyer’s mortgage.
In 2011, Congress needed more money to extend the unemployment benefits that were going to expire. To pass a six-month extension, they included a tax on conventional home buyers by increasing the monthly fee charged on mortgages and transferring the money to the general fund. This provision mandated all conventional mortgages originated until 2021 must have this tax. The Senate transportation bill will extend this tax to fund roads until 2025 unless the House of Representatives stops them.
In addition to contacting your representative, please ask your clients to take action as well by contacting their member of Congress by visiting the No Mortgage Tax website.
Over the past few months, I’ve informed you of various roundtable discussions C.A.R. has held as part of our Center for California Real Estate initiative. The center recently convened a roundtable to discuss the economic and policy challenges that will shape the future of housing. C.A.R.’s Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young moderated the roundtable, which included Nela Richardson, Redfin chief economist; Jonathan Smoke, realtor.com® chief economist; Christopher Thornberg, founding partner of Beacon Economics; and Laurie Goodman, director of the Housing Policy Finance Center at the Urban Institute. The four economists shared their insights on housing’s importance to the growing momentum behind a healthier U.S. economy. I encourage you to read the report here.
The countdown to CALIFORNIA REALTOR® EXPO 2015 is on. In less than two weeks, the biggest C.A.R. event of the year will hit the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, Oct. 6 – 8. Don’t forget as a C.A.R. member your registration is FREE; just be sure to register.
Back for the first time in five years, Tech Tuesday is where you’ll want to be on Oct. 6. Hear how to put Facebook, the most popular and powerful social media platform, to work for you to generate more leads and close more deals. Learn how to power up your listing presentations to impress clients and increase referrals. Get the inside scoop on what apps you need to wow both your buyers and sellers while conducting your complete transaction on your iPad or tablet. Register for Tech Tuesday now – only $99 until Oct. 6.
We’ll also tackle many extremely relevant issues over the course of three days in San Jose, so you’ll want to mark your calendars to attend the high-profile panel sessions, which are all listed here. One I know you won’t want to miss is the important dialogue led by our own C.A.R. CEO Joel Singer on Thursday morning at “Do You Know What’s at Stake? How New Entrants and Seasoned Players are Affecting the Real Estate Landscape Today.” Hear a panel of industry experts discuss the future of transactional data and your role as a REALTOR® with today’s and tomorrow’s consumer.
We’ll also be honoring the 2015 Champions of Home Award winners, Kay Wilson-Bolton of Century 21 Hometown Realty in Santa Paula, Calif.; Kim Eichorn of Lyon Real Estate in Davis, Calif.; and Anthony Cassel of Bay Sotheby’s International Realty in Berkeley, Calif. These REALTORS® have gone above and beyond in service to their clients and have shown care and compassion in making sure their clients’ dreams of owning a home became a reality. Please join me in congratulating them during a luncheon on Wed., Oct. 7.
Whether you come for one day or all three, I look forward to seeing you all in San Jose. Please register today.
I hope to see you in San Jose.
Sincerely,
Chris Kutzkey
2015 President
CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®